


Why Are You so Hard on Yourself?

by terriblecacti



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Based on Revelations but not necessarily following it, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Spooning, gender neutral corrin, just a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-07-15 07:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7212832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terriblecacti/pseuds/terriblecacti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takumi gets a letter from Corrin, which usually make him feel better. But the contents of this one... oh boy<br/>(This is really angsty oh no)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Savior

_Steady…_

     Takumi repeated this several times to himself as he adjusted his aim, running a calloused thumb around the grip of Fuujin Yumi. Patiently waiting for the soldier to position himself at an angle that made it easier for Takumi to strike, he held his breath, becoming hyper-aware of only the movements of his target. Sweat beaded on his forehead. But, eventually, after several minutes of waiting, he gave up and let go of the string. He was needed elsewhere. Waiting any longer for this guy to get moving wasn’t an option.

      He audibly sighed out his held breath as the arrow whizzed through the air and hit its target, lodging itself between two plates of armor, rendering his lance arm useless. That was good enough for Takumi; someone else could finish that guy off later. As he turned to try to find better ground, a sword came from seemingly nowhere. He cursed and prepared to dodge, but there was no need. The loud clash of metal rang in his ears, followed by a guttural scream.

     “Leo!” Takumi exclaimed, returning back to the world from his stupor.

     “Next time,” Leo huffed, out of breath, “Don’t leave your back wide open.”

     Takumi and rolled his eyes at the chastisement. “You think I don’t know that? I had it under control.”

     “You sure acted like it,” he scoffed. “Next time, learn to accept help.” And with that, Leo rode off before Takumi could even say anything else.

     He noticed the same soldier from before had gotten closer to him, probably trying to get away from the battle. Takumi effortlessly shot him in the neck, killing him as he had intended to before. “There won’t be a next time…” he spat under his breath.

 

* * *

 

 

     Their earlier encounter had left a bitter taste in Takumi’s mouth all day. _Just when I thought we had begun to get along well…_ he thought to himself as he finished dressing small scrapes and cuts he deemed unworthy of needing looked at by a healer. After putting a small bottle of salve back in his drawer, he loosened the ties on his hair, letting it fall around his sour face. He pulled out an absurdly large comb Corrin had gotten him for his birthday. It looked tacky, but, hey, it served its purpose very well. His face contorted as he hit a patch of knots too roughly, but he knew that wasn’t the whole reason. Takumi knew that; he just wanted to blame acting selfishly on something else, as per usual. He had gotten about a quarter of the way up when someone knocked on his door - nott much progress considering how long it is.

     “It’s unlocked,” he said casually, running it through another rough spot. He regretted inviting his visitor in when he saw who it was. Takumi hissed as he let go of the handle, the bristles still latched onto his hair. “Why are you here?”

     “I apologize for interrupting, but Corrin wanted me to give this to you.” Leo handed him a small envelope, eyeing the mess of hair Takumi was fighting. “I don’t know why they didn’t get one of the servants to do it. They insisted that I be the one to give it to you.”

     He yanked the brush out and took the letter with his free hand, staring at it curiously. “That’s odd. Did they say what it was about?”

     Leo shook his head. “No, they just insisted that it was personal and for you to read it in the morning before you come to breakfast. I haven’t the slightest clue what it could be, or why I had to be the deliveryman.”

     Takumi sat it down on his nightstand carefully, returning to his mess of hair. “Well, thank you. If you see them again tonight, could you tell them Oboro finished the tunic they had been asking about?”

     Leo groaned. “Just because I delivered one letter doesn’t mean I’m going to become your messenger.”

     Takumi shook his head slightly, realizing how stupid that request sounded. “You’re right. I’m a little tired, sorry.”

     After a silence that lasted just a little too long, Leo amusedly asked, “Do you need help with that?”

     Takumi grinned to himself. “I’m sure you have _lots_ of experience with hair. Just look at how much you-“

     “I just noticed how distraught you looked over it. If you don’t want my help then-“

     Takumi nearly threw a comb smaller than the one he was currently using at Leo. “No. By all means, make yourself useful.”  Leo sat down behind him and got to work, being careful not to pull on any knots. They made small talk, but Takumi noticed Leo seemed a little... off. He seemed a little distant in their conversation, but Takumi chalked it up to his own imagination. Together, they made quick work of it, to his surprise. He noted how Leo hadn't pulled any knots roughly, unlike his own method of tearing through and enduring the stings.

     When they were finished, Takumi stuffed the combs in his beside drawer, next to his letter and thanked Leo. “Thanks! I guess you really do know what you’re doing after all,” he commented, mostly to himself.

     “I used to help fix Elise’s hair in the morning, though she never let me do anything but brush it and tie it up,” Leo responded sheepishly. He crossed his arms behind his back as he usually did. 

     Takumi nodded and laughed to himself from the image that formed in his head, of Leo fiddling with some complex style and getting pissed off over it. That made sense, though. Leo and Elise seemed to favor each other more than their other siblings.

     He snapped out of his little daydream. “Although, it’s probably gonna be even worse in the morning. _So_ , if you ever feel the _need_ -"

     "I doubt that will happen." Leo looked away. "This was a... one time thing."

     Takumi wasn't sure what he meant by that, the bitter taste returning to his tongue. "Well, good night.” Leo simply nodded his response and walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

     Takumi changed into his bedclothes, still confused. Leo was obviously uncomfortable being in another man's quarters, yet he insisted he stay. Then, when presented with the offer of coming again, he declined immediately. It was strange. That was something to worry about later - it was really late, and sleep was high on his priority list.

     He debated on whether or not he wanted to snuff the flame in his lamp. _I’m a grown man, dammit. I shouldn’t be afraid of the dark by now.”_ He gulped and cut off the supply of oil. _Ryoma has never been. So why should I be?_

     He curled up under his blanket and quickly fell asleep to a rest that would be very counterproductive.

 

* * *

 

     Voices whispered among themselves, the sources faceless, seeming to convey no emotion at all. Takumi found himself unable to move or speak. They all crowded around him, nonsense falling from their empty mouths that he couldn’t make any sense of. Every now and again, he’d make out a “useless,” or “pitiful,” but that was the extent of it. For what seemed like forever, they gradually got closer, and their endless babble louder. By this point, their screams had started piercing his ears, and they rung, for his arms stayed fixed to his sides no matter how much he tried to move them to cover his head. They were crushing him, squeezing every part of his body until he felt like he was going to burst. One last thing rang out of every creature at once, as clear as day, and he felt their icy breath envelop his body.

_NOBODY LOVES YOU._

* * *

 

     Takumi woke up at some point in the night in a cold sweat. Terror seized him as he looked around in his dark room. He couldn’t see anything and started to panic before realizing that he had been dreaming. But how did he know he wasn't still? Forcing himself to breathe more slowly, he got out of his bed and fumbled around in the dark for some clothes. A walk would do him good, right?

     Luckily, the halls of the castle always had some form of light in them, regardless of what time it was. Though not much, his shoulder relaxed and the thrumming of his heart wasn't as loud. Takumi made sure to be as quiet as possible as he tiptoed down the hall, the lights dim so to preserve oil that he felt bad for constantly wasting. A guard eyed him suspiciously as he neared the doors to the gardens.

     “Milord, may I ask where you are going at this hour?” Takumi nearly jumped out of his skin.

     “A walk. I shouldn’t be gone for longer than an hour.” His voice came out dry and cracked

     The guard raised an eyebrow. “Should I send someone to go with you?”

     He shook his head. “No thank you.”

     Happy that encounter didn’t last long, he excused himself outside. The cold air made him shiver as it enveloped him. He needed to make sure that he was indeed awake, and not dreaming or sleepwalking. He chanted a mantra he made when he was younger and tried to name as many of the garden's flowers as he could. It was soothing, and it gave him enough reassurance to go back inside. The night was far from over, and he hoped that he could get a decent night’s sleep. He was wrong.

 

* * *

 

     Someone thumped loudly on his door right after he had dozed off.

     “Rise and shine, Lord Takumi,” greeted Hinata’s muffled voice, too cheerful for this early. He opened the door enough to stick his head in, a toothy grin covering his face. “If you’d like, I could help you get dress-“

     He rolled over and said in a hoarse voice. “No, no- That won’t be necessary. I should be down in the mess hall in less than an hour.” Takumi rubbed his eyes. “Thanks for the offer.” Hinata nodded and left the room, his exit almost as loud as his greeting. Almost.

     “Is it possible to die from sleep deprivation?” he quietly mumbled to himself as he rolled out of bed to open the curtains, the morning light pleasantly filtering through the room. His hair was almost a tangled as it had been before he had tried to sleep. He cursed at it and ran the comb through it again, this time taking longer since he didn’t have an extra set of hands helping him. Why was he feeling disappointed Leo wasn't there, helping him?

     After a long fight, he tied it up and got dressed. He sat on the bed to relax for a moment and gather his bearings. _Oh yeah,_ he thought, _the letter._ Takumi retrieved it from his door and hadn't even been able to break the seal before Oboro cracked the door. There went that idea. “Lord Takumi? Breakfast is almost ready.”

     He tucked it into his shirt and followed Oboro to mess hall. She tried to start some small talk that he wasn’t necessarily concerned with, not like it mattered. He felt like he was going to drop dead at any moment, if he were given the chance. He just gave short answers until she got the hint he wasn’t up for chat right now. Takumi was glad his retainers were morning people, because he sure wasn’t.

     As he sat down at one of the many tables, someone brought him a cup of tea and a plate. He thanked him and took a sip of the tea; it was incredibly weak. It was probably a Nohrian’s turn to make the tea and coffee today. His nose wrinkled as he sat the cup down. It was better than nothing, he needed as much caffeine as he could get.

     Takumi reached inside of his pocket to pull out Corrin’s letter. He had slid his thumb under the wax and unfolded the paper when he was interrupted by Leo, who sat across from him with a cup of his own and a book.

     “I can see you didn’t get much sleep, either,” Leo commented, not taking his eyes away from the book.

     Takumi hummed agreement and started eating small bites, wondering what had kept Leo up. He had only seen him asleep once, and he had gone from awake to drooling pretty quickly.

     “What are you reading?”

     “It’s the one about ancient philosophers you let me borrow. It doesn’t go into too much detail, and I already know most of it, so I don’t know why I’m so compelled to finish it.” He sipped the tea as if it didn’t taste like stagnant water. “You?”

     Takumi wondered the same thing. “Corrin’s letter. I still haven’t gotten a chance to even start it, so I may as well now.”

     The two of them sat in silence while Takumi read the almost perfect handwriting, stopping to take bites of his breakfast every so often. It was mostly gossip about their siblings, most of which he wasn’t very interested in, but he wanted to humor them by reading it anyway. However, when he got to the last paragraph, he nearly choked on his food.

     Leo glanced up, worry starting to spread on his face. “Takumi! Are you okay?”

     He righted himself and put the paper back, his face red from embarrassment from what he had just read. But he was going to blame that on the fact that food had just gone the wrong way. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He excused himself from the table, accidentally dropping the letter on his way out.

_I’m going to kill Corrin the soonest chance I get._

 

* * *

        

    Luckily, that day in particular consisted of mostly nothing but meetings that Takumi could either sleep through, or skip entirely. Although short bursts of light sleep wasn’t nearly as fulfilling as a whole night’s rest, it gave Takumi just enough energy to not fall into his soup by the time dinner came around. He realized that he hadn’t seen Leo around all day, and for some reason unknown to him, it kind of disappointed him. _Maybe_ , he thought to himself with a grin _, he’s been playing hooky to try to get some shut-eye too._

     At the front of the room, Corrin stood tall and tapped a glass loudly with a spoon, bringing Takumi out of his daydream. He noticed he'd been doing that a lot more as of recent. “May I have everyone’s attention, please?” Everyone stopped their conversations and focused on what Corrin had to say.

     “Tomorrow morning we will be leaving to the East to help a village who claims to have information about the whereabouts of some rare weapons. They are currently being overrun with bandits and have offered to give us some is we help out. I apologize for such short notice, but I believe we should lend our strength. Who knows, even if they've just sweetened the deal by talking up the reward, as I've been told by a scout who went there this morning, I'd feel bad if we didn't help. Doesn’t it sound like fun?”

      If they weren’t in the middle of a war, the thought of having fun slaughtering people would have been appalling. However, he noticed a few soldiers, mostly Nohrian, perking up at the idea of bloodshed. He just assumed that was one way Corrin found effective to motivate at least some of the army. It annoyed him as, of course, the _Nohrians_ would be so eager to kill, but he scolded himself silently when he remembered that they were all on the same side. He really needed to break the habit of alienating the others. The two countries would never make progress as comrades if even the royals didn't accept them.

     Takumi stayed to talk nonsense with a few of his friends. He wanted to go over to Corrin and give them some lip for the contents of that letter, but there wasn’t a single moment they weren’t preoccupied with someone else who had much more important things for Corrin to worry about than what Takumi needed to bother them with. During his wait, he also realized that Leo hadn't sit with him like he usually did either. Even if they didn't talk much, as both of them usually brought something to read as they ate, it still saddened him.

     Eventually, the crowd thinned out after an hour or so, and Takumi realized Corrin must have slipped out among them. Leo hadn't gone out of the door Takumi had been constantly watching either. It was late, and he might as well go back to his quarters like everyone else. He promised himself he wouldn't dwell on Leo's absence and to sleep. _It might prove fatal if I don’t get_  some _rest tonight_.But why was he so intent on being in Leo's company, anyway?

                He only woke up twice that entire night, an accomplishment in his eyes. Although, he had left his lamp on this time.


	2. Lost in Thoughts

     Almost a week had passed since the incident at the breakfast table, and he had seen neither hide nor hair of Leo. It was starting to worry him. But he couldn’t just ask someone where he was either. That would make it seem like he actually liked Leo and-

     That would mean he would be proving Corrin right.

     He sat at his desk and thought. Maybe Leo had been given a letter of a similar caliber? Maybe he had been so disgusted when he found out Takumi had started to harbor feelings for him that he left? Maybe he thought of Takumi as the vilest human being ever? He didn’t blame him if that was the case.

     But maybe he felt the same way as Takumi. He could only hope it was something like that.

     But then why would Leo be avoiding him?

     He leaned back in his chair, picking at his dinner that he had Hinata bring to him. Human interaction wasn’t on his to-do list for today. He’d leave that to Ryoma, since he had perfected the art. Would anyone even be up this late though? Wait, probably Ryoma, doing something kingly. Takumi sighed and sat his glass down.

     Nowadays, it seemed like Ryoma had perfected everything. Takumi was sick of it. He was tired of living in his brother’s shadow. He was tired of being the younger brother, only good for being scared of the dark when he was almost twenty and constantly needing saved from monsters on both the battlefield and his own imagination. He was tired of being outclassed in everything he tried. That was the reason he took up archery, the one thing he was better at (although, if Ryoma practiced, he could probably surpass him in that too). That was the reason he tried so hard to show his best side to everyone all the time, so that he wouldn’t look so puny when compared to Ryoma.

     Which is why he hated that he had been saved by Leo on the battlefield so many times.

     It seemed like almost every battle Leo would jump in and save him or have to go out of his way to help him. He had lost count of all the times he had been scolded by him for not watching out for himself, when he had been. But he had also lost count how many times their roles had been reversed.

     So then, if they were so inseparable before, _why wasn’t Leo talking to him now?_

     It was driving him crazy. He was going to break at any given point. Takumi needed some form of release, some way to get rid of it all, ever for just a little while so he wouldn’t explode. His walks were helping, but not enough.

     That’d have to do for tonight, though.

 

 

* * *

 

 

     He paced around the garden, as he had so many times, his mind full of intrusive thoughts that were too real to ignore. He started arguing with them out loud; it wasn’t like anyone was going to hear him, everyone was asleep. Eventually he sat on a bench and put his head in his hands, staying that way for a long time. Out of nowhere, he let out a choked sob, fueled by his hopelessness and despair. He asked many things to the still night air, most of which being the thoughts that had been haunting him for years. Of course, he got no answer. He didn’t expect one.

     “Why am I never good enough?” he spat at the ground between gasps. “Why am I so useless?”

     “I think you’re plenty good enough.”

     Takumi sat up so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. “Leo?!” He wiped his tears away with his sleeve quickly and tried to act as dignified as possible, as if he wasn’t just crying.

     Leo emerged from a shadowed area and sat beside him. Takumi noticed how much space he left between them, somehow thinking that that confirmed his fear. Regardless of whether or not that was the truth, one of Leo’s hands found its way to Takumi’s shoulder and rested there. Takumi turned his head to meet Leo’s gaze.

     “Leo- I-“ He look at him in disbelief. “How long have you been standing there?”

     “Long enough.” Leo looked at the half moon that was suspended in the sky. “I don’t think what you said was true. Any of it.” He turned and looked into Takumi’s eyes, which were red and puffy from lack of sleep and crying.

     “How would you know?!” Takumi broke eye contact and spat the question at the ground, the shoulder on his arm sending more chills through his tired body, reminding him of the fact that he was in fact awake. For once, he wished it were the opposite. At least then he could wake up from this nightmare.

     “You’re always saving me! You’re not the only one! I don’t know why Corrin puts me on the front lines when I can’t even avoid getting ambushed or needing someone to run over to me to save me!”

     Time seemed to pause for a few moments, neither of them speaking. Deciding to not answer the question he knew that had been phrased as a statement, Leo sucked in a breath and asked, “If I ask you a few questions, will you answer them truthfully?” After more silence, Leo took Takumi’s quiet, shaky breaths as a yes.

     “How often do you feel like this?”

     Takumi glanced at him for a moment, trying to remember a time when he hadn’t. “For as long as I can remember?” Why was he suddenly opening up to him so suddenly? He had never told anyone about any of this, and he wasn’t planning on it anytime soon.

     “Why?”

     The simple question said in such an icy tone made Takumi flinch. There were a multitude of reasons why. Ryoma was perfect. He couldn’t even walk down a dark corridor without getting anxious. Nothing he seemed to do ever went according to plan. “Many things…”

     “Like?”

     Once again, it was short and left too much room, too big of a margin for him to say something stupid and completely ruin his image. “Some of them are rather childish, now that I think about it. And I’m a grown man who can handle himself. So, if it’s okay, _Mom_ , I’d rather not share.” Takumi stood up to leave, wincing at how bratty he had just sounded. Leo snorted.

     “The only thing remotely childish is the way you’re acting right now.” Leo’s hand found its way to Takumi’s arm, nails lightly digging into his skin through his sleeve. He understood if Takumi didn’t want to tell him anything. If their roles were reversed, Leo was unsure whether or not he himself would be willing to expose wounds that had been open his entire life to someone else like this.

     “Don’t go. Please, just let me help you.”

     Without sitting back down, Takumi stared fixatedly into the damp grass, shaking his head to match his voice. “How can you help me when I can’t even help myself?” He flicked his intense gaze back over at Leo, expecting an answer that he knew Leo probably couldn’t give. What could Leo even say to that?

     Takumi wiggled his way out of Leo’s loosening grip and started making his way back inside the castle.

     “Wait.” Leo stood and tried to grasp at anything he could say to keep him from leaving, to be able to tell Takumi how he felt without it sounding harsh. “I think a way you can help yourself is by finding someone who wants to be with you, who can help you.”

     Takumi snorted. “Someone who wants to be with me,” he repeated in a biter tone. “What, are we going to go match-making in the middle of the night? In the middle of war? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?”

     Leo found a crumpled flower near his foot he decided he could stare at, instead of Takumi’s face. After a few agonizingly long moments of silence, he added, “You wouldn’t have to look very far.”

     Takumi’s eyebrows creased and he frowned. “Is that some sort of compliment? Yes, I’m sure I could easily find some woman who would fawn over the idea of marrying a prince.”

     “No, that’s not what I meant.” Leo dragged a hand down his face, which was already burning hot by this point. He really didn’t want to spell it out for Takumi, but if Leo was so tired that he could hardly sort out his own thoughts, Takumi must have been feeling the same thing tenfold.

    Takumi turned to Leo, the shadows cast on his face by the dim moonlight making him all the more beautiful to Leo. “Then what do you-“ He didn’t even bother to finish his sentence.

     Immediately, Leo started apologizing. “I’m sorry. That was out of line I shouldn’t have said- I know it’s seen as okay between commoners, but we’re royalty, so-“ Takumi cut him off, his face expressionless. 

     “Do you truly mean that?”

     Leo was taken aback by the sudden change in Takumi’s demeanor. “O-of course I did! Why would I lie about something like this?”

     The space between the two of them got smaller and smaller as Takumi approached him. His voice uneven, he shakily asked, “Then why did you avoid me this entire week?”

     Looking into his eyes now, Leo saw that they were threatening to fill with tears.

     “I’ve been… sorting my thoughts. I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel about _this_. Niles and I had a talk last night and…” he trailed off, which only filled Takumi with more anxiety.

     “And?” If Takumi stepped any closer their chests would have been touching. His eyes were tired, yet there was a faint glimmer of hope behind them. Leo noticed that very quickly.

     “To sum it up, he confirmed my suspicions. I… fancy you, Prince Takumi. A lot. More than I’ve ever anyone else, actually.” Leo’s hands slid down Takumi’s broad shoulders and rested above his elbows, gripping tightly. “And I apologize for completely abandoning you for the past few days. I just couldn’t bring myself to look at you when I honestly didn’t know if I could stand to look at myself.”

     For the first time, Takumi truly could not conjure a retort or comment in the face of the other prince. He _had_ expected an apology at some point, but not a confession, especially one of this caliber. Even though light was not plentiful, the Hoshidan prince could see how red-tinted the other’s face was. _Cute_ was the first word that had popped into his mind. He was sure his own skin was beginning to turn the same shade.

     “Leo, I-“

     The Nohrian cut him off. “I understand if this makes you hate me. I would too if I-“

     Takumi put a single finger up to Leo’s lips, getting on his tiptoes to achieve the same height. “ _Hush for a second!_ Take the fact that I haven’t left you here by yourself as a sign I absolutely _do not_ hate you.”

     Leo gently brushed the other’s hand aside and cleared his throat. Takumi lowered himself again, his torso slumping a little. In a more muted tone, he added, “I harbor similar feelings towards you too, Leo. I honestly didn’t ever think I’d get to admit them, though. It’s okay.” ‘How the tables have turned,’ Takumi thought, ‘Now I’m the one comforting him.’

     Leo’s arms snaked their way around to the small of Takumi’s back, not that he minded, and Takumi’s arms wrapped themselves tightly around his chest. He buried his face in Leo’s shoulder. Time seemed to stand still for the period of time they were holding each other. Neither of them spoke, neither of them moved except for the rise and fall of their breathing chests. Takumi could have sworn he heard a faint “thank the gods…” at some point.

      Leo cleared his throat and spoke up, leaning away. “Can we go back inside? It’s freezing.” Takumi was about to protest until he noticed how thin the single shirt Leo was wearing was, compared to his two thick layers. He nodded and reluctantly let go.

     They both started walking to the gate. Once again, Leo’s arm found its way around his back, and, once again, Takumi didn’t mind at all. After all, no one else was around to see them. Probably.

     Leo’s bedchambers were closest to them. When they got to the door, Takumi yawned, “Well, I should probably go back to my room and try to get some shut-eye. I’ll see-“ Leo interrupted him, again. He didn’t mean to be doing it so much, but he really didn’t want to let Takumi leave after not talking to him for a week, especially now that they had both confessed. “Wait a second. Come in here for a bit, if you don’t mind.”

     Takumi was unsure of what Leo was planning, but he followed him in anyway. It was pitch black, save for the small amount of light that filtered in through the doorway. Leo muttered something and his palm lit up with a small orb of fire with which he lit a lamp with on his desk. For a few moments, he fumbled around in some drawers. “Here we go. I believe this is yours. You dropped it in mess hall last week.”

     Takumi’s stomach dropped. It was Corrin’s letter. He snatched it out of Leo’s hand.

     “This was the reason I isolated myself this past week. It got me thinking, maybe if Corrin had told you of my… feelings, that maybe you felt the same. I apologize for reading it, but your reaction made me curious.”

     “No. It makes you _nosy_ ,” he teased. Takumi wondered how much Corrin had told Leo of him as well, and the anxiety returned. “How much did they tell you?”

     Leo pondered for a moment. “It was nothing more than a few ‘go for it’s and ‘I think it would go a lot better than you’d think’s. So I was unsure until I read the letter.”

     The Hoshidan nodded. “Same here, they never said anything outright.” He sighed. “So I guess they respected our privacy at least a little.” Leo grinned and made a sound of agreement. They both stood there silent for a few awkward seconds.

     “So… is that all you needed?” the Hoshidan prince asked, covering his yawn with his hand. “If it is, I’ll let you sleep now. I know you’re not used to being up this late.”

     Leo shook his head. “No, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask of you.”

     “Yes?”

     “Would you care to stay with me tonight?” When Takumi’s face turned crimson, he added, “Nothing like that. Just to be in each other’s company. You don’t have to if you don’t want, it’s just a request.”

     “Oh, well if that’s the case, then I’d… be happy to.” He sat the letter on Leo’s cluttered desk at the end of his bed, hoping he could still find it in the morning. What _would_ happen in the morning? Would he regret this entire night?  

     Leo nodded and pulled back the already-disturbed sheets, Takumi following him onto the bed. They both sat in silence while Takumi ran his fingers through his hair to get some of the knots out. Leo reached around him to snuff the oil lamp on his desk, the room quickly becoming covered in darkness.

     “I’ll need to sneak out of here in a few hours.” came Takumi’s voice out of the darkness. “Oboro and Hinata will try to give an empty room a wake up call if I don’t.” Leo, who had already slithered under the blankets hummed an acknowledgement.

     Takumi slid under and felt the faint heat of another body beside him. He scooted closer and was turned slightly away from Leo, who scooped him to his chest with his arm. “Is this okay?”

     “Yeah. It’s perfect.”

                Soon, both of their breaths slowed to a quiet, even pace. Takumi’s dreams were pleasant and filled with thoughts of the other prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww cute! (I completely forgot this existed. I am so sorry). I hope the conversations in this didn't seem too unrealistic. The next and final chapter is just Corrin's letter, so this is TECHNICALLY the end of the fic. Short, I know.


	3. Bonus: Corrin's Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just the letter Corrin gave to Takumi that "ruined" his life. First fic I've posted is done! I hope you enjoyed.

_To Takumi:_

_You already know what time it is! Right now, I’m supposed to be discussing battle tactics with Xander, but I figure he can spare a few minutes to let me write this. It’s been a while since the last letter I’ve written, and I apologize. I’ve been really busy, but we both know that. Hopefully, this means this damn war will be over soon. I can only pray, though._

_Gods, I am really procrastinating going to this meeting. We’ve had one the past three days in a row, and they’ve all been equally as boring. Xander just discusses everything with his advisors, and I occasionally have to say “yes” when it’s appropriate. I know you hate being the little brother, but you’re lucky you don’t have to deal with this stuff. I don’t think anyone enjoys it._

_But something interesting_ did _happen at last night’s meeting. We got Xander to_ laugh _. He and his general were arguing, and it was getting pretty heated. One of us suggested we derail the subject for a bit, and they both agreed. I decided maybe telling a few lighthearted jokes would help, even if Xander never even so much as giggled. The problem was, I had none in mind, so I had to make one up on the spot. It was: “How did the milkmaid know her husband was unfaithful? As he slept, she_ herd _him_ udder _another woman’s name under his breath.” Cheesy. Terrible. Perfect._

_It got a few chuckles. But Xander burst out into a fit of laughter; he nearly fell out of his seat. It made the rest of us join him. My ribs still hurt. I’m happy though. I hadn’t even seen him smile for a long time, let alone laugh. His face was so ugly, I wish you could have seen it._

_I’ve got Jakob angrily knocking at my door now, so I guess I’ll wrap this up. One more thing: You remember how you mentioned you didn’t think you could ever find anyone? Because of your “situation”? Well, I think you needn’t look to far. Maybe that best friend of yours would be a step in the right direction? It would go better than you think, I promise._

_-Corrin_ ♥

**Author's Note:**

> First fic! woot woot!!  
> This jumps around a lot, but I think it's for the better? Anyways, give kudos plz or constructive criticism!


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